Airway obstruction is a problem that commonly occurs during medical procedures in which a patient is placed under sedation, general anesthesia, or monitored anesthesia care (MAC). In many such cases, patients are placed into an unconscious state without any intubation or other invasive breathing apparatus in their airway. Because of this, relaxed tongue and other airway tissues commonly sag and cause the patient's airway to become compromised. In particular, it is commonly known that obstruction of the airway may cause the patient's oxygen levels to drop to unsafe levels.
One method of opening a patient's airway has been for an anesthesiologist to physically lift the patient's chin and move the patient's jaw until monitors indicate that the patient is receiving enough oxygen, or in other words, that the patient's blood is experiencing optimal oxygen saturation. Once a position providing the patient with optimal oxygen saturation is achieved, the anesthesiologist must continue to hold his jaw in this position, or another more suitable position, until the patient regains consciousness. In some instances, anesthesiologists must resort to using additional tools, such as towels to help prop the patient's head in an optimal position. However, anesthesiologists may have many other responsibilities during a procedure. For instance, they are often responsible for managing and treating changes in heart rate and blood pressure in addition to breathing as such changes occur. Thus, personally maintaining the patient's jaw, chin, and head in a position that allows optimal oxygen saturation can be distracting and inefficient for anesthesiologists and other personnel involved in the treatment of the patient.
Some devices have been proposed to solve this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,969,366 to Reddick discloses a chin support device having a malleable shaft placed between patient's chin and chest. This device is deficient, however, because it is only capable of providing hands-free support of the patient's chin while the patient is unconscious along his back. The device is not applicable, then, for procedures which may require the patient to lie along his side or stomach. Additionally, the proposal is deficient because it obscures a patient's neck and chest. This makes the device wholly unusable for procedures that require ready, unobscured access to the patient's neck or chest.
As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,869 to Orlewicz discloses a table top neck support which is placed beneath the patient's head. A swing arm having an orthogonal bend extends from the neck support to support the patient's chin. This proposal is deficient, however, because it is cumbersome and is also limited to procedures wherein a patient is lying along his back.
As yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,314 to Rotramel discloses a device having a chin support along with supportive members that flank the chin support. As with prior examples, this proposal is deficient because the patient must be in a supine position, and also because the flanking members obscure portions of the patient's neck, face, and jaw which an anesthesiologist or other medical professional may have need to readily access during the procedure.
Although various proposals have been made to solve the problem, none of those in existence combine the characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, there is a need for a non-invasive device which provides hands-free and adjustable support to a patient's chin and/or jaw to allow anesthesiologists and other medical personnel to more efficiently monitor and provide care to the patient.